Various advancements have been developed for providers to make product and service information available to interested individuals. A personal computer (PC) user may remotely access such information, at leisure, via provider websites available on the Internet. In commercial establishments, where Internet connections may be unavailable or limited in performance (e.g., by cellular coverage), various solutions have been implemented to provide access to a product or service database. Typically, bar codes are applied individually to items in an establishment, thereby permitting an individual to apply an optical bar code reader and obtain displayed information about a particular item. Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is another alternative. Local area networks in the establishments provide information for display. Interactive user terminals may be provided to interface the user with the local area network.
The conventional methods have inherent disadvantages. For example, considerable expense in cost and manpower is incurred by bar-coding and updating the plurality of items contained in an establishment. Provision of a plurality of user-interactive terminals throughout the premises also incurs expense. A further disadvantage is that an individual has no easy way to save acquired information for consideration after leaving the premises.
Accordingly, the need exists for an improved method by which an individual can obtain access to information about items of interest. Such a method should permit user portability and offer the user the capability of saving information requested.